OUAH: sorrow followed by hope
by J-Farraday
Summary: A prequel one-shot to my fanfiction "Once Upon A Handplate". You won't understand it if you don't read the other story. How did Sam and Piper, Dr Gaster's adoptive children, get the "Handplates" comic book? How did they conclude that their father is the skeleton "evil" scientist? And most importantly, how things were doing in the family before finding their biological mother?


**Okay, this is the first one-shot related to the "Once Upon A Handplate" fanfic. It explains a few things, like how Sam and Piper got the comic book, how they realized that everything in the story is real, and it also gives a first view on their relationship with their adoptive father Gaster. You must read the main fanfiction (that I started posting), or you might simply not really understand this one-shot.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. The concept of De-Code is directly inspired from the tv series "Once Upon A Time" that belongs to ABC. "Handplates" belongs to Zarla and "Undertale" belongs to Toby Fox.**

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"Get out of here! Little pervert!"  
Those were the words one could hear in the school corridors, while Sam was thrown out of the girls' restroom. He stood up and yelled back, without entering the restroom again:  
"My sister's in here! I must talk to her!"  
But his yells were ignored, and no one responded. With an annoyed sigh, Sam proceeded to walk away. His sister had locked herself in a cabin and was crying. He naturally wanted to comfort her, but how could he if boys weren't allowed in? And all those girls had no understanding in them to let him in just for a minute. So, Sam guessed he could help his sister by the intermediary of another person, someone who'd be a girl or a woman. But who? It wasn't as he and Piper had many friends… He then thought of their teacher, Mrs Underwood. She was very nice and motherly, she was the best option. He walked along the school corridors, looking for his teacher. He arrived next to the teachers' room, its door was slightly ajar. Sam sneaked a peek and got relieved to see that Mrs Underwood was in there. The boy felt a bit nervous, but he gathered his courage and knocked the door.  
"Yes?" - a voice called out.  
Sam pushed the door slightly, but didn't enter without being authorized. A few teachers were in the room, chatting and having lunch at a table. Some of them looked at him with disinterest, others just curiously. Taylor Underwood, however, looked at him with interest and concern. Taylor was one of the most respected teachers, probably because she treated the others with respect herself. She had good manners and never lost her temper at anyone, may it be a student or a colleague. Taylor wasn't young, her blonde hair reflected many silver hairs that appeared due to natural causes. She had beautiful brown eyes and was wearing glasses with purple rim that matched her purple sweater. That sweater was decorated with a flower-shaped golden brooch.  
"What is it, Sam?" - Taylor asked with her gentle voice.  
"Mrs Underwood… My sister is crying in the toilet…" - Sam started embarrassed - "I tried to go comfort her and all, but… you know… I'm no girl… and I thought that maybe you could…"  
He didn't need to finish his phrase, Taylor understood immediately. The woman stood up and said to her colleagues:  
"I have to go. I think it's serious."  
She exited the teachers' room and walked in the direction of the restroom. Sam followed her, and explained quickly his failed attempt to enter himself. Mrs Underwood refrained from giggling at the story, it would be unprofessional and it wasn't the moment to laugh. Taylor knew that Sam and Piper were adopted children, and from what she knew, they had just found out about it. So, she could guess their shock. As they arrived next to the restroom, the teacher instructed Sam to wait outside, before entering the restroom. As soon as she entered, all the girls that were there looked up at her.  
"Alright ladies. Could you please free the place for a moment?"  
Some of the girls shrugged at each other before they all complied to the teacher's request. Taylor saw that one cabin was still occupied and she knew it was the one where Piper was in. Taylor gently knocked at the door and asked:  
"Piper? My child, are you alright? Your brother's worried about you."  
"I... I'm okay… I just need a moment…" - Piper answered with a sob.  
"Piper, could you exit the cabin so we can talk?" - Taylor requested gently.  
"...Do we have to…?"  
"Yes, we do." - Mrs Underwood confirmed - "You can't stay in forever and you'll feel better after talking."  
A short silence followed. Then, the door of the cabin opened and Piper went out. Her cheeks were damp with tears and her eyes still held fresh tears. The girl didn't say anything and her teacher suggested her to wash her face. Piper splashed her face several times above the sink and after that, Taylor said:  
"I think we should go to our classroom to talk."  
Piper just nodded and the two exited the restroom. Sam breathed out in relief as he saw them, and Mrs Underwood asked him if he wanted to join them for the talk.  
"Nah, I'm doing okay."  
"Are you sure, Sam?" - Taylor asked.  
"Yeah, I'm fine." - Sam replied - "I bear news well."  
"Alright then. But if you ever need to talk, I'm available."  
Taylor wasn't fooled, she knew that Sam wasn't as okay as he claimed. But she couldn't force him to talk if he didn't want to. So, the teacher and Piper went to their classroom and once inside, she closed the door for more privacy. Piper still didn't say anything, she was just standing next to the window. Taylor approached her student and asked:  
"Now tell me. What are you feeling?"  
"... I... I don't know..." - Piper said, while Taylor waited patiently for her to continue at any moment - "It's just that... it's as if I finally know the answer..."  
"The answer to what, my child..?"  
"To why our dad is... different." - Piper replied sadly.  
"Different? What do you mean?" - Taylor asked curiously.  
"He... When school ends, I see moms and dads giving lots of affection to their kids. Our dad doesn't do that. Not much. So, I think I know why now. It's because Sam and I aren't really his children..." - Piper explained as tears filled her eyes again.  
"Piper... Listen me. That's not true. Your father loves you and your brother, like any parent would. Some people just struggle more with affections than others. But don't think that's because you're adopted. Parents always love their children, no matter if they're adopted or related by blood." - Taylor said seriously but gently.  
"But then... then why some parents abandon their children..?" - Piper asked, her voice cracking again.  
Mrs Underwood wasn't sure what to answer to this. Piper pursued as she was desperately trying to suppress her sobs but to no avail.  
"Why did our mother abandon us...? Why didn't she want us..? Why... Why isn't Dad there when we need him...? Why... was I... even... born..."  
As soon as she said the last words, Taylor immediately wrapped her arms around Piper, who started to cry on her shoulder. The teacher stroked the girl's hair in a motherly manner and tried to soothe her by her soft talk.  
"Oh my poor child... Shh... Everything'll get better... You'll see... It'll be okay... I promise... Just wait and you'll see..."  
She comforted her for a few minutes until the cries progressively stopped. Piper whiped her tears and the teacher couldn't help but feel concerned about both Piper's and Sam's emotional state. She thought she'd need to talk with Dr Gaster about it. But was the doctor capable to change for them? Taylor had doubts.

Dr Gaster entered the twins' room, as he knew a talk was necessary. He got a phone call from Taylor Underwood a few minutes ago and he was surprised to hear how much his kids were affected by the knowledge of their adoption. Sam was sitting on his bed, playing a video game. Piper was lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. It wasn't like her to do nothing, she would usually draw or play with her brother. But she obviously wasn't in the mood. Gaster sighed and said:  
"Piper... I got a call from Mrs Underwood. She told me what happened this afternoon."  
"Shall you ground her for crying?" - Sam asked, his eyes still locked on the game.  
"No. Where does such an idea come from? I just want to understand why it happened. You two apparently aren't taking the info about adoption well. But why does it make such a big difference that I'm your adoptive father instead of being a 'real' one?"  
"Do you love us?" - Piper just asked in response.  
"What...?" - Gaster got taken aback by the question - "How can you ask me such a thing? If I didn't want you two in my life, would I have adopted you two? I told you about the adoption because I estimated you deserved to know the truth. And I came to that conclusion because I care. Does that answer your question?"  
Right at that moment, Gaster's cellphone vibrated. He got a reminder about the conference he was invited to at the college of Undertown, which would take place in an hour. The doctor sighed. He had to go to get everything prepared.  
"Look, I must go now." - he said a bit awkwardly to his kids - "As a conference guest, I can't be late."  
"Always and again your work, huh?" - Sam commented as he shook his head.  
"The conference had been planned a month ago, I can't change anything about it now!" - Gaster replied, annoyed by his son's attitude - "Whether you like it or not, I must do my work! If I didn't do what I do, how would I feed you, educate you? How would I pay the bills? It's thanks to my work that I can provide you the life you have now. You should consider this perspective."  
None of his kids replied anything to this. So, considering that the conversation was closed, Dr Gaster turned around and was about to exit the room. But Piper jumped out of her bed and hugged her father tightly. Gaster stopped, but wasn't sure what to do or say. He looked down at his daughter and patted her head slightly.  
"I... I really have to go…" - the man said, but this time with a gentler tone.  
With disappointement that Gaster didn't return her hug, Piper let go. Dr Gaster said to his children that he expected them to be in bed when he returned before exiting the room. The man couldn't help but sigh as he descended the stairs. Why being a father was so complicated? In the bedroom, Piper sat back on her bed with a sad expression. Sam found nothing better to do than make a nasty remark about their father.  
"Heh... If he does care about us as he says… he surely sucks at showing it."  
As the words were spoken, Piper's eyes got filled with tears and she started to sob again. Sam understood his mistake and rushed towards his sister and hurried to apologize.  
"Sorry, sorry...! I'm sorry, sis. I'm such an idiot sometimes…"

A day passed since the breakdown at school. Alicia came at the Gasters' residence to spend some time with the kids, like she often did. She brought some anime she recently acquired, which she and the twins were now watching in the living room. But the kids weren't into it, which was unusual. Alicia sighed and turned the tv off. She hugged the kids and said:  
"Come on guys, try to smile a little. Nothing really changed since Dr Gaster said… uh, you know… He's still your father, you're still his children. And I am still your super-cool auntie Alicia who pampers you with anime and sweets..!"  
She took out of her handbag a sack of the kids' favourite candy. She looked at them, expecting the usual delighted reaction. But that didn't happen.  
"Uh, yes, thank you, Alicia..." - Piper finally managed to say.  
But neither she or Sam had the heart to smile.  
"Guys, I... I can't possibly know how you feel… But let me tell you one thing. I know that your father, he… he can be uh… difficult. It's just the way he is. B-but...! He… he really loves you a lot. I know that, because I know Dr Gaster for a long time now. And I saw how happier he became when he adopted you. I should've taken a picture of him that day…"  
Sam and Piper shuckled slightly at Alicia's last statement. The female doctor was relieved to see at least the shadows of smiles.  
"Hehe, see? Not that hard to smile."  
"But I'm still not sure about... anything really." - Sam replied with a sigh.  
"Look, I know what'll make you feel better." - Alicia said as she took out of her bag a book - "H-here… It's a comic book from my collection! Even though I don't recall buying it… A-anyway, I give it to you. As a gift..!"  
She handed the book to the twins, who took it and started to study the cover. On the cover were drawn three skeletons and some other monsters in the background. The picture itself was mostly colored in shades of green.  
"The story is sad… but very interesting! I think you'll like it." - Alicia said.  
"'Handplates'...?" - Sam read the title of the comic at loud.  
"What is it about?" - Piper asked curiously.  
"No spoilers!" - Alicia answered with a smile - "But the story tells you about the trials of life. No matter how harsh those can be, life can always take a better turn. And sometimes, it's up to you to make the correct choices to make your life better."  
The twins were now very intrigued. So, they smiled to their friend and thanked her for the gift. Alicia was glad that she managed to make them feel at least a little better. The twins needed some entertainement, and besides… she hoped that the comics would make them realize that they're not as unhappy as they believed they were. There were much worse things in life sometimes…

The twins were sitting on one of the beds, ready to begin the reading of the comic book. They had a feeling that the story would be thrilling in all ways. The first thing that interpellated them in the story was the name of the skeleton scientist: W.D. Gaster.  
"He has the same name as our dad!" - Piper exclaimed.  
"Almost. Our dad is Will Dean, but here the 'W.D.' stands for Wing Dings." - Sam commented.  
"It's still pretty similar… What a strange coincidence."  
The kids kept reading, but there were more things that caught their attention. It were Wing Dings Gaster's looks. Especially when the story finally showed him in his lab.  
"He really ressembles our dad, don't you think?" - Piper asked her brother.  
"Uh-uh… If our father was a skeleton, I think he'd look just like that." - Sam agreed.  
The twins were so caught up in the story... They had been surprised when the doctor cut off parts of his own hands and made two skeletons out of it. When the Dr Gaster from the comic asked a yellow lizard, Dr Alphys, to heal his hands, the twins couldn't help but compare the female monster with Alicia.  
"That's so much her!" - Sam said - "She's as much nervous when she talks."  
"Totally her! And she loves anime too!" - Piper added.  
The twins looked at each other with frowns. Those were strange coïncidences. They kept reading and they soon realized that the more W.D. Gaster wrote entries about his two 'subjects', the more ressemblant he was becoming to their father. The way the skeleton talked, the way he walked, it was all their father. Not to mention the holes in his hands… Their father did have strange scars on his own hands, which he never wanted to talk about.  
"Sam... what if that skeleton is...?" - Piper asked nervously.  
"No, Piper... It's just impossible..." - Sam replied, yet he was as much flabbergasted as his sister.  
Soon they arrived at the page when Dr W.D. Gaster took the decision that affected his life forever. Sam and Piper stared at the panel with wide eyes.  
"What..? No… what's Dad doing with the drill..?" - Piper asked as she was getting scared.  
"Is he going to drill handplates to his sons' hands?" - Sam asked himself on his turn, ignoring that Piper associated the skeleton with their father again.  
"Can you skip this page, please...? I don't want to see it...!" - the girl said as she gripped her brother's arm.  
"It's okay, Piper... It doesn't show the details of the scene..." - Sam replied as he gave a quick peek at the next page.  
Piper sighed in relief. But what followed that moment was only getting darker and darker... The twins even shed a few tears as they kept reading. But at some point, they got relieved to see that Dr Gaster's secret had been discovered. The story took a slightly different tone from that moment. A human child fell in the Underground, they befriended the two skeletons - Sans and Papyrus - as well as other monsters, eventually bringing them all to the surface.  
"Toriel reminds me of our teacher." - Piper then said all of sudden.  
"Yeah, I noticed too... And her husband, King Asgore... I think he's a bit like our mayor." - her brother added seriously - "All of this is very strange."  
They kept reading and soon arrived at the most… curious part. Dr Gaster, who had been rejected by monsters for his crimes and lived now all alone, decided that he would make everyone forget about it. He'd De-Code everyone into another world, creating false lives and identities for them. It wasn't something monsterkind was prepared for. What could be done against that? The last page of the comic revealed the only person that could eventually save them all. A child that had been saved from the De-Code just in time.  
"It stops there?" - Piper asked curiously - "No real conclusion..? How weird..."  
"Hmm, maybe that's because the story isn't over yet?" - Sam suggested thoughtfully - "Maybe…"  
"Oh, Sam... Are you thinking what I'm thinking...?" - Piper asked, internally getting excited.  
"Yes... This story... Its characters... It's all..."  
"...It's all real...!"  
The twins looked at each other then suddenly squealed. But they quickly stopped, fearing that their father would hear. The kids grew so excited. But then, they felt also anxious. If all of that was real, so their father was the scientist who tortured his sons.  
"We must never show him this book." - Sam said to his sister - "Who knows what he shall do if he finds out that we know."  
"Right... But what if he's not that bad anymore...?"  
"If he had changed, he wouldn't do that De-Code thing in the first place. No, we must conclude the story."  
"But how? The story says only one person can undo Gaster's De-Code." - Piper pointed out.  
"The answer is that little girl." - Sam agreed - "But why did this strange book end up in our hands and not hers? What if… what if our task is to bring that girl here? What if she's linked to us somehow?"  
"Sam! What if the girl is... our mother?" - Piper suggested quietly.  
"Piper, you're a genious! Of course, it makes sense! What can possibly make her come in Undertown if not her own children?"  
"This means we're going to find our mother." - Piper said, then felt a wave of happiness - "Oh, and imagine if in the end, she'll realize she still wants us…"  
"Yeah, that would be cool." - her brother agreed - "Okay, that will be our first secret mission."  
The kids felt an immense joy as they thought about saving their town from the eternal oblivion. They knew that from now on, things were going to slowly get better.

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**A/N: The comic book, unlike Zarla's comics, tells the story in the chronological order. (Without alterations to flashbacks and such things.) You may be wondering why it never occured to Alicia that the skeleton from the book looks like her colleague. In fact, she did notice. But she didn't think too hard of it, and concluded that it was merely a coincidence. **

**Now, about ****Taylor Underwood, aka Toriel . She's a teacher, like she's always wanted to be one even long before the De-Code. She knows how distressed the twins feel since the day they learned they have been adopted, and she's concerned about their emotional state. Piper had been crying a lot, while Sam had been bottling everything up. Taylor sadly can't do much for them and she can only hope that things will get better for them. **


End file.
